COLLEGE STATION – The Cotton Bowl has ensured that one of Texas A&M’s old acquaintances won’t be forgot, as the Aggies will renew a once-grand rivalry in the new year.

The 9-3 Aggies will take on 10-2 LSU on Jan. 7 in prime time. The teams played annually from 1986-95, and before that from 1960-75, in addition to previous collisions between the state border foes.

And in a topsy-turvy college football world that soon will feature 12 teams in the Big Ten and ten teams in the Big 12, A&M and LSU will play the Cotton Bowl in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Meanwhile Texas Tech under first-year coach Tommy Tuberville will play in the Cotton Bowl – the actual building, but not the name of the game – against Northwestern in the first TicketCity Bowl in Dallas.

“There have been many huge football games played in that stadium over the years,” Tuberville said.

This New Year’s Day affair won’t be one of them. But in a season when 5-7 Texas will sit idly by, the 7-5 Red Raiders will make their 11th consecutive bowl appearance, seventh longest active streak nationally.

“There were times throughout the year when, as coaches, we asked, ‘How are we going to get these guys ready to play next week?’” Tuberville said. “But the players would show up on Sundays and Mondays and give all they could give. … We had great leadership from our seniors, and they persevered and worked through it. We didn’t have a long losing streak.”

Baylor did, despite a strong start to the season in which they briefly led the Big 12 South standings before closing out the regular season with three consecutive losses. Nonetheless, the 7-5 Bears will make their first bowl appearance since 1994 when they take on Illinois on Dec. 29 in the Texas Bowl in Reliant Stadium.

“This is a long time coming for Baylor,” third-year coach Art Briles said. “We’re fortunate that we’re getting to stay in state and play a Big Ten opponent in such a great pro stadium like Reliant.”

Big 12 champion Oklahoma, which defeated Nebraska in the league’s final title game on Saturday night, will face Big East champion Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.

“All of our players are satisfied that we finished strong, but (the season’s) not over yet,” said OU linebacker Travis Lewis, a Lee High product. “To cap this season off by winning a bowl game would be awesome.”

As for the rest of the Big 12 bowl schools, Oklahoma State will face Arizona in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29, Missouri will take on Iowa in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28, Nebraska will face Washington in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30, and Kansas State will tangle with Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 30 as well.

The Aggies, winners of six straight, will try and win a bowl for the first time since 2001. Since that victory over TCU in the now defunct GalleryFurniture.com Bowl, the Aggies have lost in the Cotton, Holiday, Alamo and Independence bowls, but only the last (last season) came under third-year coach Mike Sherman.

LSU leads the all-time series with the Aggies 26-20-3, but A&M won the last five meetings from 1991-95. Cotton Bowl officials late Sunday announced the game as already sold out.

“We have quite a history with LSU,” A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said. “You have two fan bases among the country’s most supportive and passionate. We’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the country, and it’s appropriate that we’ll face a great challenge from a quality LSU program.